The Cincinnati Bengals are coming out of their bye week. They’re 3-2, and so far, it’s been a pretty mixed bag so far.
They started the season looking dominant against the Buccaneers and Texans (who have won just two games between them at this point in the season), but then suffered frustrating losses to the Steelers and Jaguars before escaping Miami with an ugly victory over the winless Dolphins in Week 5.
So, yeah. Mixed bag.
Since there’s no Bengals football to watch this weekend, let’s take a look
at how the rushing and passing offenses have performed through the first five games, assign each a grade, and then determine an overall offensive grade.
Starting with…
Rushing Offense
Zac Taylor, once again, entered the season talking a big game about establishing a more balanced offense. The Bengals spent much of training camp working on Joe Burrow taking snaps under center, and they really tried to force the issue through the first few games of the season.
It hasn’t exactly worked.
The Bengals have the seventh-fewest rushing yards in the league, are averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, and have scored only two rushing touchdowns this season. Perhaps most damning of all, their longest run of the season is just 13 yards, the shortest of any team’s longest run in the NFL. And that run came all the way back in Week 1.
Chase Brown has significantly out-carried Samaje Perine so far, 71-27, but that trend shifted somewhat in Week 5 against the Dolphins. The Bengals appeared to abandon their commitment to running with Burrow under center and instead leaned more heavily on running out of shotgun, an approach that seems better suited to Perine.
Of course, Brown has also proven himself to be a reliable receiver out of the backfield, so he shouldn’t have much trouble staying on the field moving forward. Meanwhile, it’s become painfully obvious that the Bengals coaching staff has little, if any, confidence in Tahj Brooks.
For the first time in Burrow’s career, he has the same five starting offensive linemen in front of him for consecutive seasons. While they’ve done a better job protecting him than in years past, this offensive line was built primarily to keep Burrow upright, not necessarily to open up running lanes.
Ultimately, the running game has been a disappointment, but there is one important thing worth pointing out.
According to PFF, the four highest-graded run defenses in the NFL belong to the Buccaneers, Steelers, Jaguars, and Texans, with grades of 79.5, 76.3, 75.0, and 74.8, respectively.
In other words, four of the Bengals’ first five opponents have been among the league’s best at stopping the run.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s rushing offense ranks 18th in the NFL with a PFF grade of 70.9.
That’s worth considering before completely writing off the running game, but the production simply hasn’t been good enough.
Rushing-Offense Grade: 71% (C-)
Passing Offense
This is the identity of the Bengals’ offense, and it’s not particularly difficult to understand why.
Burrow is an elite quarterback, and Cincinnati boasts the best wide-receiver duo in the NFL in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, both of whom would be legitimate No. 1 receivers on just about any team in the league.
The offensive line was built to keep Burrow clean, and so far, it’s done an okay job. Considering what we’ve seen from Bengals offensive lines in recent years, that’s actually something of a compliment.
Chase and Higgins are weapons 1 and 1A. Opposing defenses understandably do everything they can to take them away, which creates opportunities for players like Mike Gesicki, Dohnte Meyers, and Brown coming out of the backfield.
Unfortunately, Andrei Iosivas landed on injured reserve after tearing a ligament in his thumb that required surgery. While he’s expected to return at some point this season, his absence has exposed a considerable gap between the Bengals’ top two receivers and the rest of the depth chart.
Through five games, Burrow has thrown for 1,361 yards (sixth in the NFL), 11 touchdowns (fourth), and just three interceptions (tied for the second-fewest). Higgins leads the team with 423 receiving yards, while Chase and Gesicki have each caught four touchdown passes.
Those are impressive numbers, especially considering the Bengals have struggled to establish any sort of consistent rushing attack. Opposing defenses know Cincinnati wants to throw the football, and Burrow and company have still managed to put up strong numbers through the air.
There have been some frustrating stretches, though, and the passing game hasn’t always looked as explosive or consistent as you’d expect from an offense featuring this much talent.
Still, if this is what a typical “slow” start looks like for Burrow and the Bengals’ passing offense, there’s reason to believe they could come out of the bye week firing on all cylinders.
Hopefully.
Passing-Offense Grade: 89% (B+)
The Bengals’ offense has as much star power as any unit in the NFL, but far too often, it seems to get in its own way.
Taylor’s play-calling can be frustratingly conservative, and at times, the offense lacks the creativity you’d expect from a unit with so many talented players demanding touches.
The inability to establish a consistent rushing attack has made the offense increasingly one-dimensional, placing even more pressure on Burrow and his receivers to carry the load.
Fortunately, they’re talented enough to do exactly that.
But there’s a difference between having the talent to be one of the NFL’s best offenses and actually performing like one week in and week out.
Through five games, the Bengals’ offense has been good. Not great, but good.
